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Mai Mala Buni and his co-travellers have been working overtime to sabotage the March 26 national convention of the party, says ex-DG

A former Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman, has accused Governors Yahaya Bello, Hope Uzodimma and Dapo Abiodun of colluding with Mai Mala Buni in the destabilization of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mai Mala Buni is the embattled Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the APC.

But the Governor of Niger State announced taking over from Mai Mala Buni on the ground that the Mai Mala Buni led CECPC has no plans of conducting the March 26 national convention of the APC.

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Lukman in a statement issued Friday warned that the APC stands on the path of losing the next election because of the crisis already crippling its capacity to hold a national convention to elect substantive party officials.

Lukman stressed that anyone who loves Mai Mala Buni should be more worried about protecting his honour as a political leader by ensuring that he doesnt become a letdown who stands opposed to the majority decisions of party leaders and members.

He said if Mai Mala Buni shares the vision of all the founding leaders of the party, he would be willing to make every personal sacrifice to demonstrate his support for the decisions of the party.

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Lukman contrasted Mai Mala Buni to ex-leaders of the APC including Chief Bisi Akande, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Chief Tony Momoh of blessed memory, Chief John Oyegun and Adams Oshiomhole

His words: There are known collaborators of His Excellency Mai Mala who have colluded with him to ensure that all attempts to organise the APC National Convention are blocked.

Three Governors who are known and must also be called upon to account for their roles in undermining decisions to organise the APC National Convention are His Excellency Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, His Excellency Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and His Excellency Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.

There are other party leaders, including Sen Uzo Kalu who have actively supported His Excellency Mai Mala to undermine the decision to organise the National Convention of the party.

Lukman stressed that the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for March 17 should initiate processes of a disciplinary hearing in line with provisions of the APC Constitution to sanction all these leaders if found guilty.

Excerpt from:
Ex-Progressive Forum DG names Uzodimma, Bello, Abiodun as Buni collaborators in the destabilization of APC - The Niche

Once a practice rooted inreligious beliefs, socially responsible investing, or ESG investing in todays lexicon, is about to become a secular practice mandated by the government.

The Biden administrations push to require all publically-traded firms to report their greenhouse gas emissions as a component of new public disclosure requirements is a step toward making ESG investing mandatory. In this new twist, the government will decide which firms deserve access to investment capital. Mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions will lead to government regulations that will curtail new capital investments in companies that produce or consume fossil fuels.

With a United Nationsendorsement, the socially responsible investment fashion of the late 20th century transitioned into the Environmental, Social and Governance movement or ESG. Once a voluntary movement that prioritized investment in companies that adopt policies and practices that promote the progressive lefts environment, labor and human rights causes, ESG investing is about to become a regulatory tool they will use to achieve specific objectives.

Investor interest in voluntarily supporting companies that champion specific nonprofit-oriented practices created incentives for businesses to signal their ESG efforts in public disclosures. The movement spawned an industry to provide ESG ratings that purportedly assess a firms adherence with ESG-related climate change, labor and governance policies. Investment managers use these ratings to identify ESG-friendly companies. More recently, international pressures have been building to standardize and mandate ESG disclosure. Last year, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) established theInternational Sustainability Standards Board(ISSB) to create standardsfor companies to use when making periodic disclosures on ESG-related issues.

The experience with voluntary ESG disclosures suggests that mandatory disclosures alone are unlikely to produce progress on progressives agenda. Because voluntary company ESG disclosures and ESG rating have not produced the lefts desired outcomes, further government measures will be required.

The incongruence between ESG ratings and the progressive lefts agenda is readily apparent. For example, a recent Bloombergreportanalyzing the ratings produced by MCSI Inc. found that they dont measure a companys impact on the Earth and society. In fact, they gauge the opposite: The potential impact of the world on the company and its shareholders. Similarly,ananalysisof MSCIs large bank ESG ratings found that many large banks received ESG rating upgrades in recognition of their environmental efforts despite the fact that they were among the banks most active in funding the oil and gas industries.

The dissonance between ESG ratings and ESG goals is not limited to one rating agency. According to the Dow Jones North American Sustainability Index, Philips Morris gets ahigh ESG ratingdespite the fact that it sells 700 billion cigarettes a year. The irony is that the crusade todisinvest big tobacco was one of the first organized campaigns of the nascent ESG movement. Similarly, Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook receive favorable ESG ratings while few socially responsible investors would likely consider them good corporate citizens, given their allegedmonopolisticpractices and their history oflabor disputes.

The fuzzy link between ESG disclosures and agency ESG ratings is being used to justify the standardization of ESG disclosures. But the move to standardize and mandate ESG disclosures has another purpose. It is the first step toward creating metrics regulatory agencies can use to penalize public companies involved in politically disfavored industries most immediately, those that extract, refine or use significant amounts of fossil fuels.

In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has jurisdiction over rules regarding mandatory disclosures in securities prospectuses and reoccurring public company reports. Since2010, SEC guidance regarding ESG-related disclosure is that ESG considerations should be discussed when they represent a material factor in the business description, risks, management outlook or legal proceedings facing a company. The SEC is currently revisiting this guidance and seems likely to require public companies and investment funds to report on their ESG-related accomplishments in a standardized format that includes disclosures on their greenhouse gas emissions calculated usingGHG Protocols.

The plan to mandate disclosure of public companies greenhouse gas emissions, while veiled as an initiative to improve public disclosure, serves another policy goal of the Biden administration restricting fossil fuel-intensive industries access to investment capital. The recent Financial Stability Oversight Councilreportfound that climate change poses a systemic risk to the financial sector. Such a declaration empowers financial regulators to useDodd-Frank Actpowers to identify and mitigate systemic threats to the financial system.

Under authorities granted by the Dodd-Frank Act, new regulations can be imposed to discourage investment in firms with high greenhouse gas emissions using the justification that the regulations are needed to reduce financial system systemic risk. Requiring public companies to disclose their emissions is but the first step in a broader policy agenda.

Regulations to discourage investments in high emissions firms could take many forms once public firms are required to report them using standardized methods. Regulators could impose higher bank regulatory capital requirements for investments that fund firms with high emissions. Alternatively, they could use supervisory stress tests with extreme climate-change transition shocks to force banks to categorize such firms as exceptionally large credit risks. They could impose limits on the total greenhouse gas emissions in investment portfolios and require credit rating agencies to downgrade securities linked with high emissions. As Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions Graham Steele haswritten, there are countless ways the data could be used to restrict carbon-emitting firms from accessing investment capital.

Today, the option of investing in companies with ESG-friendly policies is at risk of being transformed into a requirement that companies prioritize the progressive lefts ESG goals over shareholder returns. Not only are periodic ESG disclosures likely to become mandatory, but the standardized data they will be required to provide will allow regulators to penalize public companies involved in disfavored industries including those that invest in, or make heavy use of, fossil fuels.

Paul H.Kupiecis a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies systemic risk and the management and regulations of banks and financial markets.

Originally posted here:
Socially responsible investing is turning into a covert war on fossil fuels | TheHill - The Hill

A Republican legislator who is running for Idaho Secretary of State in this springs primary elections is making her third attempt to make widespread changes to voter registration and identification laws in the name of election security.

Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley, sponsored House Bill 761. On Thursday, the House State Affairs Committee voted to put it on a fast-track and send it straight to the floor of the Idaho House of Representatives, skipping the committee public hearing process.

Moons new 21-page bill would make several changes if it is passed into law. Some of the changes include:

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The bill would also create a $200,000 fund to pay for state identification cards that would be accepted for voting and available free of charge for people who do not have a drivers license or one of the other accepted forms of identification.

I think Ive addressed every issue and concern (in previous bills), Moon told the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday.

The Idaho Secretary of States Office said elections in Idaho are secure and that claims of widespread voter fraud made following the 2020 election are without merit.

Earlier version of the bills raised questions and drew opposition

The first two versions of the bill were similar but attracted opposition and raised many questions.

In legislative lingo, that makes House Bill 761 the grandson of House Bill 549, because it is the third generation.

The bill now has a clause that makes sure it wont take effect before this years May 17 primary elections. Instead, it would take effect on July 21. That means the changes would apply to Novembers general election if it is signed into law.

During Thursdays introductory hearing, Moon said she cleared up all the issues with the previous versions of the bill.

I think weve got it covered, I do, Moon said.

But Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, worried the bill would still make it very difficult for many students, young people and new Idaho residents to vote.

Im really concerned about the young person who is 19, 20, 21, 22 and proving their residency for same-day voting purposes, Gannon said.

Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, also told Moon he still has questions about how voters could prove their residency if their home was owned through a trust and they didnt have a lease or mortgage in their name.

I dont think that has really been hashed through as well as you would think, Furniss said during the bills introductory hearing.

Gannon and Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, voted against introducing and fast-tracking Moons new bill Thursday, while all of the Republicans on the committee voted in favor of it.

At this point, the bill is already behind schedule. The Idaho Legislatures self-imposed transmittal deadline to move bills between the two legislative chambers was Monday. Legislative leaders have also said they are working to wrap up the session in about two weeks, by March 25.

Moon had the new bill sent straight to the House floor in an effort to speed it up with the potential end of the session closing in. If the Idaho House passes the bill in the coming days, it would still need to pass the Idaho Senate and be signed into law by Gov. Brad Little or allowed to become law without Littles signature.

Moon is running in the Republican primary for secretary of state this year. On Thursday, Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane announced he will also run for secretary of state in the GOP primary. The candidate filing period closes at 5 p.m. Friday.

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Republican Idaho legislator introduces third bill attempting to change voter registration, ID laws - Idaho Capital Sun

Former President Donald Trump smiles at the crowd after speaking at a rally Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Florence, Ariz. Ross D. Franklin/AP hide caption

Former President Donald Trump smiles at the crowd after speaking at a rally Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Florence, Ariz.

South Carolina Republican congressional candidate Russell Fry released a TV ad this week called "Villains Anonymous." It features the Joker, a pirate, Maleficent and Satan, all sitting in a circle in a sort of support group.

Joining them is an actor playing Rep. Tom Rice, a congressman from the state's 7th Congressional District.

Fry is challenging the incumbent Rice for the Republican nomination, and Trump is a major focus of his campaign. In the ad, Rice's admission that he voted for Trump's impeachment draws groans of disgust from the group of villains.

Donald Trump is also very focused on people like Fry these days, which is to say those running to unseat other Republicans Trump dislikes.

Rice is 1 of 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and Fry was chosen as a featured speaker at a Trump rally in Florence, S.C., on Saturday night.

Katie Arrington was chosen as another featured speaker. Trump is backing her against Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in the neighboring 1st District. Mace did not vote for impeachment, but did heavily criticize Trump after Jan. 6, saying that he "put all of our lives at risk."

The way Trump is intervening in primaries is unprecedented, according to Republican strategist Doug Heye.

"Other Republican presidents certainly have have gotten involved in political races," he said. "But they certainly haven't gone on a grievance tour and done so throughout the campaign cycle."

Trump's prominence in the GOP and the fact that those who praise him the most also often get opportunities in the spotlight was visible at the Conservative Political Action Conference held in Florida last month.

The conference, for example, did not feature Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a staunch conservative who is also a vocal Trump critic, as it had in the past. However, it did feature Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Cheney with Trump's support.

In his CPAC keynote speech, Trump exhorted the crowd to "fight and work hard to elect candidates who believe in the principles and policies that we hold so dear."

Hageman, who once was strongly anti-Trump, now does hold Trump dearly enough to get his endorsement. And she is heavily stressing her allegiance to him in this run.

One of her ads is called "Ride For The Brand" in it, cowboys explain to the camera that those who ride for the brand are loyal "to the person who hired them, to the one who paid them." Cheney, they add, is not loyal because she is "fighting against President Trump."

It's not just about endorsements, either: Trump has the power to direct large sums of campaign cash. His Save America PAC in 2021 gave $5,000 each the legal limit to a variety of candidates, including Hageman.

In the grand scheme of campaign money, that may not be a lot, but Trump's power to boost a candidate goes well beyond one PAC.

"What Trump's endorsement does, first and foremost, is it brings attention," Heye said. "He's not writing a lot of checks. He's keeping all that money that he has to himself thus far. But he is sending signals to like-minded organizations this is a candidate that they should back."

Drew McKissick is the chair of the South Carolina GOP. Trump endorsed McKissick in 2021 over another Trump-hugging candidate, and McKissick is also set to speak on Saturday. He credits Trump with reenergizing the party in his state.

"I mean, there were several counties there where when I got elected four and a half years ago, we didn't even have a county party organization," he said. "After Trump's victory, we had 50 to 60 people show up to organize a county Republican Party."

Trump is still, by far, the most powerful Republican in the party so much so that some candidates he loudly opposes still seek to tie themselves to him.

Mace, for example, posted a video of herself in front of Trump Tower last month, talking about how long she had supported Trump and her time working for his campaign. She didn't mention any of her past Trump criticism.

And while Rice has been willing to criticize Trump, he also doesn't totally divorce himself from the former president, telling voters about how he helped draft the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and that he overwhelmingly voted with Trump in Congress.

Even while Trump remains the center of the Republican universe, Heye sees his power possibly ebbing.

"What we're starting to see is he doesn't dominate the political stage like he used to," Heye said. "And as he's had some rallies, we've seen more empty seats, and that's what's going to be interesting to see where it is does he remain the draw that he's been for five years now?"

It's also becoming clear that a Trump endorsement doesn't make or break a campaign. He endorsed Rep. Ted Budd in the North Carolina Republican Senate primary, for example, and Budd has reportedly disappointed Trump in his polling and fundraising.

Meanwhile, a Trump-backed bill failed this week in Wyoming, which was aimed at preventing people from changing parties ahead of primaries. That's something that could allow Democrats to help Cheney in her primary fight.

For Rice, though, the concerns are much deeper than winning.

"If we are going to have a scenario where the president can try to intimidate Congress into doing what he wants, well shoot, we might as well have a monarchy," he told South Carolina Public Radio's Veronica Hansen last month.

Trump was already taking swings ahead of taking the stage on Saturday. On Friday, he put out a statement promoting the candidates running against "absolutely horrendous Nancy Mace" and "'doesn't have a clue' Tom Rice."

NPR's Barbara Sprunt contributed to this report.

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Trump campaigns against Republicans critical of him over Jan. 6 - NPR

As a conservative Republican and president of the Ada County Lincoln Day Association and the District 19 legislative chairwoman and precinct committeewoman for Precinct 1913, Im deeply dismayed by the lack of voices from the right directly condemning our lieutenant governors recent appearance at white nationalist conference, sharing the roster with known Holocaust deniers and antisemitic agitators.

As U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, there is no place for white supremacy or antisemitism in the Republican Party.

As a Jewish woman, I grew up learning from those who served in World War II and the consequences of the Holocaust were instilled in me at a young age and deepened my faith. Being Jewish to me means we can never take for granted our long history as survivors. Our horrifying near-extinction at the hands of Nazi Germany and its allies is all too real, and to deny this history is unforgiveable.

Sometimes, people are earnestly curious about Jewish people and culture, and are open to conversations. Because there are so few of us, most Idahoans simply know very little about us. But the Holocaust didnt happen out of nowhere. Antisemitism often begins in understated ways, with subtle slurs and coded phrases, or in more explicit pejorative graffiti like weve seen recently along the Boise Greenbelt and at the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial.

Even more rare than Jewish Idahoans are Jewish members of the Idaho Republican Party. My involvement in the Idaho GOP has raised a few eyebrows over the years, but to me, conservative support of Israel, a tenet of the Republican platform since the early 1990s, is central to my political and Jewish identities. Israel is a beacon of hope, the only true democracy in the Middle East that upholds freedom, democracy and personal choice.

I am deeply dismayed to see the escalating dehumanization of Israel and the Jewish people from the extreme wings of both the right and left, including the endorsements of McGeachin by the likes of those who McGeachin has surrounded herself with, like Vincent James Foxx, a white supremacist, Vladimir Putin supporter and Holocaust denier. Its appalling that Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin would participate as a speaker at a white nationalist event like AFPAC. Its unimaginable to me that a sitting statewide official and candidate for Idaho governor would attend let alone speak at a white nationalist conference led by the likes of Nick Fuentes, James Foxx, and others who espouse political violence, the purity of the white race, and antisemitism.

Countering the political normalization of antisemitism and white nationalism starts by recognizing the deep history of prejudice against the Jewish people and how antisemitic conspiracies seek to undermine the America we are so proud of. Naming the scourge of antisemitism requires constant vigilance from all of us and should be modeled by our elected leaders.Republicans must demand a basic standard of decency from our political candidates and elected officials. Janice McGeachin is falling far below those standards now: the company she keeps is repugnant, and her openness to anti-Semitic and anti-democracy worldviews is, simply, disqualifying. I invite my fellow conservatives to join me in calling for her resignation.

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As a conservative Republican, I'm deeply dismayed at lack of voices from GOP condemning McGeachin - Idaho Capital Sun